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Hamilton was the most award-winning YA author in American literary history, and the first Black author to win a Newbery Medal. A new collection showcases five of her most haunting novels.

From KPBS weekend arts preview: Opening Sunday with an evening reception, San Diego-based artist Charlene Mosley has long been fascinated by pollinating insects, bees and birds — and has manifested this interest into a new exhibition that parallels the largely unappreciated labor of a pollinator with that of women of color. Mosley's paintings teem with depth and movement, full of vivid color and an almost mythic crossover of wild, natural elements with the human form. These women, surrounded by exquisitely detailed birds, foxes, flowers, butterflies (you name it), evoke — for a split second — a fairy tale princess and her army of woodland creatures, but there's something too desperate, curious and sharp-edged in these works for that. Also opening on Sunday is Sparks' annual "Minis" exhibition, the popular group exhibition of small works (with small price tags). Details: Opens Sunday, May 15 with a reception from 5-8 p.m. and is on view through Jul. 3, 2022. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday from noon to 7 p.m., Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sparks Gallery, 530 Sixth Ave., downtown. Free (RSVP requested for the reception). —Julia Dixon Evans, KPBS From the gallery: RSVP for the opening! A pollinator is anything that helps carry pollen from the male part of a flower to the female part of the same or another flower, with the movement of pollen fertilizing plants to produce fruits, seeds, and young plants. Naturally a pollinator is integral to the survival of life on Earth. The exhibition “Pollinators" reveals Charlene’s love and fascination for nature and extraordinary insects, birds, bees and other animals that play a vital role in the massive operation of pollinating 80% of the world’s flowering plants. She strives to not only celebrate their beauty, but their resilience by defying the odds every day. One remarkable insect, the Monarch, is known to be the only butterfly to migrate over 3000 miles to perpetuate its species all the while carrying thousands of pollen grains from one flower to another. That seems like a miracle when considering the mere fact that metamorphosing into a butterfly alone is highly unlikely with only a 10% chance of survival from its egg form to adulthood. The women portrayed in the exhibition represent another type of pollinator. Women, especially women of color, have always ‘pollinated’ the development of civilizations with countless incredible contributions and achievements and were rarely credited for any of the ‘honey’ that was made from. Today, women rewrite history and are constantly defying stereotypes and breaking barriers. So, naturally Charlene feels a sense of empowerment and pride in creating strong, well-rounded characters based on real-life women in her family and surroundings, women she admires from afar, and even herself. Painted in a confident yet natural pose, the female figures often grab the viewer’s attention with a captivating eye contact, pulling them in to further analyze all the intricate details and the ever-moving vibrant strokes to their story. The artist draws similarities in her work between the two pollinators, focusing on their shared resilience, courage and strength as they flourish in each other's presence. She showcases a deep respect and appreciation for their achievements and the unequivocal endurance to the struggles of both their existences. “In a way, my work is the manifestation of imagination and endless conversations with myself and about life, examining my own identity as a woman, as an artist, as a person of color, as one individual within 7.7 billion and my impact on nature. Every one of my paintings and drawings play their own role and spark their own conversations in order to grow a bigger understanding and appreciation for what it means to be a pollinator of this world, in a literal and symbolic sense.” Sparks Gallery’s annual minis exhibition returns this year with a variety of small works from a wide range of artists. Each piece in this exhibition, sized 12in x 12in and under, constitutes a bite-sized sampling of each artist’s unique style and vision. This is a great opportunity to purchase a small piece from one of your favorite Southern California artists, priced $500 and under. Mosley’s works and our annual "Minis" show will be on view at Sparks Gallery from May 15 through July 3, 2022. We invite you to join us in the gallery on Sunday, May 15 from 5-8 for the Opening Reception. RSVP here: https://sparksgallery.com/rsvp?eid=32941 Regular Gallery hours: Monday - Friday from Noon - 7 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m. - 7 p.m., Sunday 11a.m. - 5 p.m.

Concerning My Daughter, Hugs and Cuddles and Freeway: La Movie do not pretend to be easy reads, yet they are all completely consuming.

Join music, art, literary, and dance historian Victoria Martino in a five-week lecture series, celebrating the 150th anniversary of Diaghilev by rediscovering and redefining the scope of his immeasurable influence on modern culture. Who was Sergei Diaghilev? What did he do? Condemned by his own country as the ultimate exemplar of bourgeois decadence and depravity, he was excised from Soviet cultural history. Yet, in the international world of art, music, dance, and theater, he was revered, even idolized, as the greatest impresario of all time. Creator, critic, curator, Diaghilev played all these roles, defining for many the very meaning of contemporary art in the 20th century. In his role as founder and director of the legendary Ballets Russes, Diaghilev commissioned and patronized a veritable lexicon of artists, choreographers, composers, dancers, and designers: from Matisse to Picasso, Fokine to Massine, Debussy to Stravinsky, Nijinsky to Pavlova, Bakst to Chanel. Date | Tuesday, April 26, 2022 at 7:30pm Location | Athenaeum Music & Arts Library Purchase tickets here! $16-$21 The lectures will be in person at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library. There are no physical tickets for these events. Your name will be on an attendee list at the front door. Doors open at 7 p.m. Seating is first-come; first-served. For further information on this event please visit website: https://www.ljathenaeum.org/events/martino-22-0426

Lupron, a drug patented half a century ago, treats advanced prostate cancer. It costs a few hundred dollars in the U.K. — so why are U.S. hospitals charging so much more to administer it?

A Trump-endorsed Republican and a Democratic state senator are facing off in a congressional race that could help decide control of the House of Representatives.

From San Diego weekend arts preview (KPBS): "A Tiny Upward Shove" is the debut novel from LA-based writer Melissa Chadburn, and it feels like a must-read. The story is inspired by Chadburn's own Filipino heritage and background in the foster care system, and one of the characters is the real-life serial killer Willie Pickton. The story promises supernatural magic, grisly crime and artfully crafted writing just from the first page. Chadburn will be in conversation with San Diego-based writer Jac Jemc (author of "The Grip of It," "False Bingo") at The Book Catapult. —Julia Dixon Evans, KPBS From the organizer: The Book Catapult is pleased to host debut novelist Melissa Chadburn on Friday, April 15 at 7 p.m. for a discussion of her new novel, "A Tiny Upward Shove." Melissa will be in-conversation with local author Jaclyn Jemc. Marina Salles’s life does not end the day she wakes up dead. Instead, in the course of a moment, she is transformed into the stuff of myth, the stuff of her grandmother’s old Filipino stories—an aswang, a creature of mystery and vengeance. She spent her time on earth on the margins; shot like a pinball through a childhood of loss, she was a veteran of Child Protective Services and a survivor, but always reacting, watching from a distance, understanding very little of her own life, let alone the lives of others. Death brings her into the hearts and minds of those she has known—even her killer—as she accesses their memories and sees anew the meaning of her own. In her nine days as an aswang, while she considers whether to exact vengeance on her killer, she also traces back, finally able to see what led these two lost souls to a crushingly inevitable conclusion. In "A Tiny Upward Shove," the debut novelist Melissa Chadburn charts the heartbreaking journeys of two of society’s castoffs as they make their way to each other and their roles as criminal and victim. What does it mean to be on the brink? When are those moments that change not only our lives but our very selves? And how, in this impossible world, full of cruelty and negligence, can we rouse ourselves toward mercy? Melissa Chadburn’s writing has appeared in The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times Book Review, The New York Review of Books, The Paris Review Daily, The Best American Food Writing, and many other publications. Her extensive reporting on the child welfare system appears in the Netflix docuseries "The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez." Melissa is a worker lover and through her own labor and literary citizenship strives to upend economic violence. Her mother taught her how to sharpen a pencil with a knife and she's basically been doing that ever since. She is a Ph.D. candidate in Creative Writing at the University of Southern California and lives in greater Los Angeles.

California public schools showed similar results, while public schools across the United States also saw declines in reading and math for both tested grade levels.

An estimated 2% of the U.S. voting age population is ineligible to cast a ballot due to a felony conviction. State-level felon disenfranchisement rates vary dramatically.

SARS-CoV-2 is evolving "rapidly," spawning one new variant after another. But omicron continues to dominate, raising new questions about how evolution of the virus is headed.